


The DM Will Remember That

by Avalon1632



Category: Before the Storm - Fandom, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-02-22 02:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13157595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avalon1632/pseuds/Avalon1632
Summary: Basically, Steph invites Chloe and Rach back for a D&D game with her and Mikey, then Max gets roped in to make up the numbers. Kind of a lame summary, I know, but that's basically it. Inspired by BtS's D&D segments (No game spoilers though).





	1. And so, our story begins...

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: Session 1 - And So, Our Story Begins - May 2010?  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> So I played BtS and really liked the D&D segments with Steph and Mikey (Being a tabletop-gamer and all), so I thought a campaign'd make an interesting fic. Plus, there've been a bunch of really good tabletop fics coming out from this fandom recently, so I thought I'd throw my own wolfshark into the duck pond. This is a world I built for a D&D campaign that never got used, so I dug it up for this. It's inspired by a lot of different things, but mostly the works of Garth Nix and one specific game that I'll be hella impressed if anyone actually knows. I had a thing for Abhorsen/Keys to the Kingdom at the time I was making this world, so those popped up a lot. Oh, and only canon change to the LIS world is that Max and Chloe stayed in contact and are friendly. William is still dead, Step-douche is still both step and douche, etc etc. This one is set sometime between Max leaving and Max returning (Hence why she's still in Seattle, obvs)
> 
> Trying to write this was a little odd. The actual style of this story is my attempt at mashing Steph's DM style with a written version of the Up To Four Players webcomic. Basically, lots of story in the game world with a lot of seguing back into the real world for mechanics. So, after they get into the game in the last scene, everything inside the \\\ // is OOC (out of character) talk in the real world, everything else is either Steph's narration or In-Character actions. I have literally no idea how it's going to work, as I'm writing this AN before I actually finish the fic. So yeah, please do let me know what you think of this style (specifically the bit after the \\\// AN) so I can try something different if it's awful.
> 
> Also, this chapter was entirely written while I was listening to Twin Shadow songs and a playlist of old Crystal Maze episodes I found on Youtube. Love that show. Well, in the Richard O'Brien era, anyway. Tudor was okay, but couldn't really measure up to good 'ole Riff Raff.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> Character List:  
> Steph Gingrich - DM  
> Chloe Price - Haley?, Elf Fighter  
> Mikey North - Joseph Evening, Human Wizard  
> Rachel Amber - Clarissa Bluefeather, Tiefling Rogue  
> Max Caulfield - Derrick, Dwarf Cleric (Skype-In)
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

StephLeppard Created Group Chat  
StephLeppard Added Chloe_Pris  
StephLeppard Added MikeyOfTheNorth  
StephLeppard Added AmberMooon

StephLeppard: Hey Guys

MikeyOfTheNorth: Hey Steph

Chloe_Pris: Sup dudes

Chloe_Pris: ready to roll dice and fuck shit up?

StephLeppard: Kinda getting ahead of yourself, Price. We've got a few things to do first.

Chloe_Pris: Aww

StephLeppard: Is Rachel around? I don't wanna do this twice.

Chloe_Pris: dunno probs not

Chloe_Pris: think shes w/Frank

StephLeppard: *sighs*

Chloe_Pris: dw ill catch her up later

StephLeppard: Screw it, ok. You still interested in another game?

Chloe_Pris: Hell yh dude! I kicked that dragon-things ass!

StephLeppard: Dragonkin

MikeyOfTheNorth: Dragonkin

Chloe_Pris: w/e i still fucked his shit up

StephLeppard: You sure did, Chlo

StephLeppard: Ok, cool. So, I'm gonna let you actually design a character this time, instead of just ambushing you with one.

Chloe_Pris: Cool

StephLeppard: And sorry Mikey, but you're gonna have to design a new one too. Epic-Level Elamon's way too badass to be adventuring with teh noobz. :)

MikeyOfTheNorth: Dang.

AmberMooon: Worry no more, ladies and gent, Rachel has arrived!

Chloe_Pris: *eyeroll* hey Rach

StephLeppard: Great, everyones here!

Chloe_Pris: yh. sooooo..?

StephLeppard: So I have a campaign written up for you, and we can start whenever you're all free.

StephLeppard: We could kind of do with another person though.

AmberMooon: Nobody in nerd club you'd want to join? How about that Warren kid?

StephLeppard: Nah. They're not really into RPGs. More Betrayal at House on the Hill and tabletop shit like that. And Warren's... kind of a creep. (AN1)

Chloe_Pris: um

Chloe_Pris: I cn check w/Max if u wnt? Shes kinda into rpg stuff. Plays nvn all the fuckin time.

StephLeppard: Neverwinter Nights?

Chloe_Pris: yh

StephLeppard: Sounds good. If she wants a spot, she's got one.

AmberMooon: Oooh, we finally get to meet the ever-elusive Max Caulfield?

Chloe_Pris: Dude.

Chloe_Pris: Don't be weird.

AmberMooon: Who, moi?

Chloe_Pris: ...yes

AmberMooon: Fair. Don't worry, I'll be nice. :)

Chloe_Pris: NO EMOJI!!!

Chloe_Pris: One sec

Chloe_Pris: ill text her

-

Chloe Price- hey maximus?

Max Caulfield- hi Chloe! How are you?

Chloe Price- I'm gd thx. u up for a D&D thing?

Max Caulfield- a D&D thing?

Chloe Price- My friend is gonna runn a game.

Chloe Price- She wants one more person

Chloe Price- its ok if ur not. new peeps n all.

Max took a deep breath. She could do this. She'd made friends with Kristen and Fernando, she could make friends with whoever Chloe's friends were.

..Right?

Oh dog...

Max Caulfield- ok. i'm in.

Chloe Price- WOO!

(AN2)

-

Chloe_Pris Added NoirAngel

Chloe_Pris: Hey Maximus!

NoirAngel: Hey Chloe! Hi, uh... everyone else?

Amber_Mooon: Hi Max!

NoirAngel: Hi, um?

Amber_Mooon: I'm Rachel!

NoirAngel: Hi Rachel! Are you the DM?

StephLeppard: Nope. That would be me. I'm Steph. Hi Max.

NoirAngel: Hi! It's nice to meet you! What game are you running?

StephLeppard: D&D 5th, with a few homebrew (AN3) additions.

NoirAngel: Cool! :)

Chloe_Pris: No Emoji!

StephLeppard: ...

StephLeppard: So, you want in?

NoirAngel: Definitely! It'll be cool to play again.

StephLeppard: Okay, guys. It's a plan. Now, when's everyone free?

\--

"Hey Mikey?"

He sighs from his perch on the couch, not looking up from his book. "Yeah, Steph?"

"Do you think this is a bit much?"

He drags his eyes away from his book, sees the robe, and just stares. "Steph... what the heck?"

"What?" I shrug, twirling around slowly. "I thought I'd dress the part."

"The part for what, leading a druid circle?"

I shrug, pull up the hood so all he can see is the bottom half of my face, flick off the lights, and flash my best 'you're fucked' DM smirk.

He blinks.

"No."

"Aww, but-"

"No."

"Mikey!"

"Steph..."

I sigh. "Fine. No robe. Spoilsport."

I flick the lights back on.

He nods, and goes back to his book.

I pull off the robe and sling it into a corner. Bah. He's no fun.

I wander over and drop down onto the couch next to him, letting my head fall to lean on the back. "When did I tell everyone to get here?"

"Five."

"What time is it now?"

"Four forty five." Mikey smirks.

I groan, rolling over and burying my head in the arm cushion.

He marks his place in his book (is that that fancy leather bookmark I got him for Christmas five fucking years ago? Aww, dude.) and looks up at me. "Don't worry so much, Steph. It's gonna be great. You're the best DM I've ever had."

"The only DM you've ever had." I mutter.

He nods. "Yeah, but still. You're good at this, Steph. Don't... y'know... doubt yourself or... ah, frak. I'm bad at this." He pulls a cheesy grin and gives me double thumbs up. "Break a leg!"

I pull up my head and stare at him. "Break a leg?" I'm trying, and failing, not to grin.

He nods. "Yeah, like the theatre thing..? I'm just trying to say that you'll do great."

I lean over and ruffle his completely non-existent hair (a running joke we'd had ever since he cut it so short it's basically all shaved off). "Thanks, Mikey."

He smiles. "Anytime, Steph."

We sit there in companionable silence for the next thirty minutes. We'd done it before. It was... calming, I guess. No judgement. Still, when the doorbell rings, I'm up on my feet and sprinting for the door. I pull it open and grin when I see Rachel and Chloe standing there. Although, Chloe somehow manages to make standing out in the open look more like loitering."Hi, you two."

Chloe smirks. "Sorry we're late. Someone," she glares at Rachel, who just tosses her hair with a smile. Neither gesture had any malice to it. It was like... a ritual between them. "took a fucking hour to do her make-up."

Rachel smirks at me and rolls her eyes "More like 40 minutes." She turns her own glare on Chloe. "Somebody is just impatient." She thrusts a hand at me, clutching a plastic bag. I take it, and look inside. The vital ingredient to any game night, candy, chocolate, and sweets, and whatever other unhealthy shit you can get from a convenience store. Abandon Salad, all ye who enter here.

When I spot the six empty wrappers in the bag, I look up at Chloe and raise my eyebrow.

She shrugs. "I might've gotten a little snacky on the drive here."

I snort, stepping back to let them past. "Come on in. Mikey's in the lounge. We're just waiting on your friend now."

They amble in, and Chloe snorts as she brushes past me. "Max is late. Yep. That's hella unsurprising."

"Oh?" I ask, offhand, as I try desperately to control my excitement. I had players! And they'd turned up! Not on time, but it was Chloe and Rachel, so I'd take what I could get.

"Yeah, Max has, like, a terminal case of being late to shit. Pretty sure it's genetic. You know that old joke about someone being late to their own funeral?"

I frown. "Yeah?"

"Her granddad actually was. There was some kinda mix-up with the funeral peeps and he got there forty-five minutes after everyone else did." She grins. "It was fucking hilarious. I always bet Max that he did it on purpose, just to fuck with his in-laws. Me and her Dad could not stop laughing for the entire time."

I lead them both into the lounge as she talks, and poke Mikey on the shoulder when he doesn't look up from his book and, he, um... squeaks. That's really the only way to describe it.

He blinks at me in complete shock as the two girls cackle behind me.

I roll my eyes. "Come on, Mikey. Let's get the peanut gallery downstairs before they start throwing shit."

"Hey!" Chloe exclaims "We'd never throw shit in someone else's house."

Rachel smirks. "But throwing shit at someone else's house is totally on the table, so watch out for your roof."

I tilt my head and look back at them as we head towards the basement stairs. "You two were the ones who TP'd the statue, weren't you?"

Chloe grins. "Hell yeah we were. We turned that statue into a fucking mummy."

We walk down, and I flick on the lights, grinning wildly when I got another look at my baby. My dad had let me have the basement when we moved in, and basically given me free reign to do what I liked to it.

And boy had I taken him up on that.

Every wall was covered in old movie, comic, and game posters, from X-Men, to Portal, to a bunch of Studio Ghibli art Victoria Chase had weirdly 'donated' from somewhere in exchange for me running a one-shot for her and her cronies. One of the weirdest experiences of my life, but the art was cool. The bottom half of three of the four walls were occupied by drawers and cupboards that stored all our gaming supplies.

The entire room was set-up around the large round mahogany table in the centre of it. The One Ring footrest was custom work, with the backlit tengwar script, but Mikey and I had spent an month of afternoons carving the english version into the table rim ourselves.

The only thing my dad'd put up a fight with me about was the Corner of Pets. He wasn't a fan. I'd set up two beds and some toys in one corner of the room. One of the beds was currently filled with 80 kilograms of sleeping furball. Chloe's face immediately lights up when she spots him and she skitters over to the corner to pet him. She even coos, which is something I never thought I'd see Chloe fucking Price do, but whatever. She throws a quick glance back to me, still grinning. "What's his name?"

"Woof."

Everyone except Mikey, who's heard this question asked a hundred times already, looks at me. "Woof? Seriously?"

I shrug. "I went through a descriptivist phase when I was a kid. The name sorta stuck. Anything from Max?"

Chloe nods. "Yeah, she texted me back saying she'd be five or ten minutes." She rolls her eyes. "Pretty sure she was up 'til the ass end of the morning watching movies again."

I nod. "Right, okay. You two got your character sheets? I'll give you another quick runthrough of the rules." (AN5)

\--

I look up from the rulebooks as the computer set-up on one side of the table starts to beep annoyingly. Jeez, the skype boop is the most annoying sound on the freaking planet. I answer it as quickly as possible, and grin as the small, freckled face of Max appears on the screen and - "Oh my god Chloe, she is so cute!" Rachel's hand clamps onto Chloe's arm as she stares at the screen, a delighted grin on her face.

The look Chloe gives me at that kind of made me wonder if it was possible to die of embarrassment. Then again, if it was possible, I'd have died back in 9th grade when Sophie Burgess' dad caught us in... okay, not the time, Steph. God, now that was embarrassing.

Max's face froze into a confused frown. "I, um, what?"

Rachel snickers, turning it into a choke when Chloe elbows her in the stomach and mouths "Nice, remember?" at her. Rachel has the good sense to look abashed, but she winks at me when Chloe's not looking.

What the hell did I get myself into?

Chloe and Rachel crowd around the computer to chat with Max while me and Mikey work on setting up. Not that we're actually working on that. I set-up, like, two hours ago. I was mostly just freaking out and Mikey was mostly just freaking out about me freaking out.

Not the most productive way to spend your time, but hey, I multitask. Got plenty of planning done while I freaked. Even did my taxes. Not that I have taxes. Or would pay them if I did. Fuck the police. Or whoever collects taxes.

And I'm rambling again.

Of course.

Damnit.

I take a deep breath and call out "Hey guys? I'm ready to start if you are."

They both spin round at exactly the same time. For just a second, I feel kind of bad for breaking up their weird chatter threeway thing, but they all take their seats pretty quickly and look eagerly (or impatiently, in Chloe's case) at me.

I lean back and look into each face sat around the table, and they all stare back. I take a deep breath and grin, dropping into my storyteller voice. "And so our story... begins."

\--

(AN: This is where the whole \\\// thing comes in. Anything inside the slashes is OOC stuff spoken by the players. Everything outside is either Steph's DM narration or IC talk.)

You all awaken, finding yourselves lying on your backs on cold, hard stone. When you open your eyes, you see a massive circular room that towers above you so far that you can't even see the ceiling. Disoriented and confused, you each climb off the stone slabs you're lying on, getting shakily to your feet.

That's when you see everyone else.

The tall elf glares at the each and every one of the other four individuals in the room. "Who the fuck are you people?" \\\"Wait." Chloe stops, frowns, then looks over at me. "Do we know each other?"

I shake my head. "Nope. None of you have any idea who these strange weirdos are that you've woken up with, or how you got in this room."

Chloe grins. "Okay then..."//

"Where the hell am I? What did you assholes do to me?"

The tall human wearing a long coat and a sour expression steps forward a little, glaring across the room at the angry warrior. "We didn't do anything. We were brought here, same as you."

She scoffs. "You expect me to believe that?"

Long coat guy shrugs. "We all woke up on the same slabs, at about the same time. It makes sense, if you're capable of thinking about it for longer than two seconds."

The tiefling standing over in the corner steps in, before the elf can get angrier at the obvious goading. "Look, we're all in this together, right? And while I really can't say I yet trust any of you, I'm willing to extend the first branch. I'm Clarissa. Who are all of you?"

The elf scowls. "I'm-

\\\Chloe blinks. "Um. I'm... fuck, what's my name?" She looks down at her character sheet, trying to read her shitty handwriting. "I'm... Daedalus..." She turns the sheet and squints down again. "or maybe Margaret." She tilts her head giving the sheet a confused frown. "Or, fuck, does that say Hayley?" She shrugs, drops the paper back on the table. "Fuck it. I'm gonna be Hayley.//

"Hayley." She crosses her arms and throws an expectant glare at the longcoat-clad human, who simply gives a curt nod. "Evening."

The dwarf in full, gleaming platemail frowns, looking around the room for a window. "Is it? How can you tell?"

The man's expression sours further. "It's my name, not the damn time."

"Oh." The dwarf's face unclouds with the realisation. "And I'm Derrick."

Evening nods. "Charmed."

\\\ Nice. Okay, then. Time for a more personal introduction. "Okay, people. Time to wow us with your word skills. Describe your characters." I point to Chloe. "Who are you, what do you look like?"

Chloe takes a breath. "Okay, so I'm... I said Hayley, right?" When everyone nods, she continues with more certainty "Cool. Yeah, I'm Hayley. I'm an Elf Fighter, 'cause elves are cool, and... I've got, like, an axe? And, uh... some armour? Leather, I think. Oh, and my hair is like, orangey-red."

She stops, and looks up at us.

Rachel snorts. "Wow, Chlo."

Chloe glares. "Whatever, Rach, I'd like to see you do better."

Rachel looks to me, and I wave a hand. "Go ahead."

She grins. "My name is Clarissa Bluefeather, and I'm a Tiefling Rogue, with long-as-fuck legs and a truly awesome ankle-length forest-green greatcoat over a flamboyant waistcoat-doublet combo. I grew up on the streets of a big city, so I had to learn how to survive on my own. I usually like to talk my way out of trouble, but I'm pretty good with the pair of knives I always carry around with me. Oh," she adds, almost too casual to be an afterthought "and my hair is like, blue-y purple."

Chloe glares. Rachel smirks.

Okay... Moving swiftly on. "Max? You want to go next?"

Max's image on the screen blinks, and she looks up. "Sorry, what?"

Chloe snorts. "Your turn to talk about your character, Max."

Max nods, "Oh, okay." and takes a deep breath in. She slackens her shoulders a little, straightens her neck, and looks straight into the camera. "The name's Derrick Margrave." She says, in a cowboy drawl, dropping into character like most people would put on socks.

Holy crap that's impressi-wait. I didn't notice before, but that voice is really gruff... Wow, okay. She's playing a dude. Huh. That was... unexpected. When I offered to run Max through the whole chargen thing, she just shrugged and said she knew what she was doing. Chloe almost vibrates with pride when she spots my impressed look.

"I grew up the only dwarf in a human town, so I had to deal with a lot of crap growing up." Chloe's face softens for a second. Interesting. "I found the church of Helm in my teens, after a series of bad decisions, and now I'm a fully fledged cleric. My armour has his symbol across the chest. I have a short brown beard, tightly braided hair down to my shoulders, and I use a small hammer and a buckler."

Chloe leans over to Rachel and asks, sotto voce, "Who's Helm?"

I lean over. "He's a God of Protection."

She blinks. "Wait, were we all supposed to pick Gods?"

Rachel smirks, nodding. "Yeah, Chloe. It was like, the third box on the sheet or something?"

I nod, and Chloe swears. "Damnit fuck. Um. Who do I pick?"

I pull open the Player's Guide to the Deities page (AN4) and slide it across the table to her. "Check the list.."

We wait patiently for a few seconds while she reads. For self-described punk-trash, she reads pretty quickly, and picks out a name in less than a minute. "Who's... Tymora?"

"Goddess of Fate, also known as Lady Luck."

Chloe grins, scrawls down the name. "Sweet! Lady Luck's my bitch!"

Rachel snorts. "More like you're Lady Luck's bitch."

I let them bicker for a few seconds longer, before coughing loudly. "Ahem."

They both smirk sheepishly at me, and at each other, then go quiet. I flash a smirk of my own. "Thanks." I look over to Mikey, who's been watching proceedings with his own seriously smug amusement. "Mikey? You wanna show 'em how it's done?"

Mikey shrugs, and immediately straightens his back, like he's got the biggest metal stick up his ass ever, then puts on the most condescending smirk he can manage.

If Max getting into character was like putting on socks, Mikey getting into character was like putting on a suit of armour. Each bit went on, one by one, layering over each other until he was completely cocooned in it. If I could ever get him onto the stage, he'd be fucking amazing.

"I am Joseph Evening," he says, in his posh-prick accent "and I am a gentleman and a scholar, with particular focus on the arcane arts. I'm tall, and thin, with vaguely hawkish features. My clothing is simple, yet well tailored, and my hair is short and well groomed. I'm currently glaring at the rest of you with an arrogant sneer."

The others all blink at him for a few seconds. He gives a self-conscious little shrug and smiles. "There's a reason this is our thing."

Everyone makes vaguely appreciative sounds and turns back to me. I smile. "Cool. Okay, now you've all been fully introduced, what do you guys wanna do?"

Rachel leans forward. "Can I take a look around? Maybe try see if there's a way out?"

I smile. "Sure you can. Roll a perception check."

Rachel rolls. "Uh... Seventeen."

I nod. "Cool. DC for that was really fucking low, so..." I shrug. "Good thing you're not blind."//

Clarissa suddenly spots a sunken dais set into the middle of the room. It's covered in intricate and lightly glowing runes around the outer edge and, on the inside, is a dull green gem about the size of your head.

\\\"Perception checks, the rest of you." "16.", "13.", "17."// The rest of the party notice as Clarissa starts edging forward towards the middle of the room.

"What are you-" Evening starts to question. That's as far as he gets.

As Clarissa puts her foot down on the dais, the crystal flares and a loud, booming voice suddenly echoes through the chamber. "Behold, my Children. You are risen from the Dust, and you have awoken in my Garden. Hear now my voice, and know that I am your Guide, your Ally in this land, and I am called ELOHIM."

\\\Chloe jams her hands over her ears when my voice gets magnified by the speakers. "What the shit, Steph?"

I grin sheepishly, switching them off. "Too much?"

"Just thought it was hella loud, was all." She mutters.

I share a grin with Rachel, mouthing "Hella?"

She shrugs, not bothering to hide her satisfied grin. I roll my eyes and look back to Chloe. "Sorry, Chlo. I'll turn it down."//

When he says his name, the sound blares through your heads like a floodlight.

\\\ "Damn fucking right it does. Fucking speaker..." Chloe grumbles. Max waves a hand. "Shh, Chloe." //

It's like someone let off a leafblower in every room of a dusty old house at once. Everything in your head is a swirling maelstrom, and the only thing that you can focus on is Elohim as he/she/it/they continue(s). "All across these lands I have created trials for you to overcome, and within each I have hidden a sigil. It is your purpose to seek these sigils, for thus you will serve the generations to come and attain eternal life." \\\ "Oooh."

"Shut up, Chlo."

"Fight me." //

You wait, calmly and quietly, for Elohim to say more.

\\\ "Sure we do."

"Chloe!"//

You wait, calmly and quietly, for Elohim to say more.

\\\ "Fine." //

"Go forth and seek me now, in my temple, if you are worthy."

'Hayley' scoffs. "Worthy? Who the fuck are you to say if we're gods-damn worthy?"

But the glow of the crystal fades, and the voice is gone.

\\\"Shit."//

As the group wonder over Elohim's words, a loud scraping sound fills the tower as a majestic golden door rises out of the stonework floor and settles into part of the wall, the only space unoccupied by one of the stone slabs.

\\\"Huh."//

Derrick shrugs. "Well, I guess we got us a way out. Y'all wanna stick together 'til we find out what the hell this Elohim guy wants?"

\\\"Well, I mean, it's not like we can say no..." Rachel grins.

"Actually," I amend, "You can say whatever you want. That's the point of roleplay. There's no script, like on the stage," Rachel acknowledges my nod to her favourite hobby with a smirk. "just whatever you all want to improvise."//

Clarissa shrugs. "Eh. It's not like any of us have any better options, right?" She glances over at the human and elf, both of whom were standing at far further than arm's distance away, alternating between glaring at each other and the door.

"Right?" She asks again. After a short hesitation, Evening and 'Hayley' both give begrudging nods.

The four of you walk over to the door, and push. It gives easily under force, despite the look of weight. You follow through and step out into a wide open courtyard. The tower looms behind you, flanked on either side by massive walls that stretch off into the distance, but the tower is nowhere near as tall as it appeared to be inside.

In front of you is a city. And a crowd. Who are all staring at you with expressions of awe, shock,.. and fear. Between you and the crowd are several men and women in lavish robes, all of whom are raising their arms and chanting. They stop and turn as they take note of the silent and terrified crowd and their mouths fall open when they see you.

To either side of them stand several guards in armour and uniforms unfamiliar to you. Every one of them has an identical upturned white triangle engraved both in the centre of their chests and on both pauldrons.

At a hastily shouted order from one of the robed people, the guards all pull out their blades and rush towards you.

\\\I grin. "Roll. For. Initiative!!!"//

\--

AN1 - He really fucking is. The dude even peeks in on Max at one point. Skeezy creep. Also, Betrayal at House on the Hill is a great boardgame, if any of you are into that.

AN2 - Just an "I'm such an old person" note here. I don't get why people don't put their phone contacts like this anymore. I'm like the only person I know who doesn't use nicknames or emoji to clarify who is who, just forename and surname. Any of y'all still do it this way or just me?

AN3 - For those of you not in the know, it's common to take the out-of-the-box rules of tabletop RPGs and add in your own personal rules. Any of your custom rule adjustments are called 'homebrew' rules.

AN4 - Technically it's the 'gods of the multiverse' page in the 5th Ed. Players handbook, but still. Gods are cool to play with. Especially if you've got a microphone or voice mod system like Steph has. It's a great experience when Gods take a personal interest in your player characters and you can suddenly booming-voice into their headphones when you need to.

AN5 - This is the main thing you need to know about D&D mechanics. Almost every single thing revolves around the D20. You roll it if you wanna attack things, to try use your skills, or to talk to people, or whatever else you can think of to try do. Then, you add the relevant number from the sheet that the DM telegraphs you to (eg. in a perception check, you add your perception skill number) and the DM checks it against a thing called a DC, which is basically a numerical representation of how difficult whatever you're trying to do is. If you get higher, you succeed and get to do whatever you're trying to. There are a few exceptions (nat20s or 1s and such), but I'll go into those more when they come up later.


	2. Jailbreak!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter II - Jailbreak!  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> This was kind of a hard one to write, for similar reasons that I talked about with a third person narrator in Decay-dia Bay. Steph has a very distinctive, rolling rhythm to her DM tone that I haven't quite got down yet (Lots of double-descriptors (the hard, cold rock) and singsong-ey tones (and then this happened, and then this happened) that are quite hard to get right in my head). I think I get it for a little while in this chapter, mostly in the beginning fight, and a little in the walking through the town part, but eh. I'll get there. Practice makes perfect, right?
> 
> Tried to work the tooltips and explanations of the rules in a way that keeps them informative without being too... well, dry. Hoping to get y'all to have at least a basic idea of how D&D works by the end of this thing. :) Let me know if there's something that comes off weird and arcane, or if you want me to go into more detail on something (both what I have and haven't covered), and I'll try work it into subsequent chapters.
> 
> Dang. I tried to bold the [[s to make them slightly easier to see and it seems to have not worked. Any suggestions on how I might make the transitions slightly easier on the eyes than they are now? It's a lil' difficult for you folks to see the [[s in the mass of text and shit, so... yeah. Suggestions welcomed and slightly begged for. 
> 
> Oh, and I have a question for y'all. If you had a time machine about the size of an Iphone that could take you 30,000 years into the past or future, and teleport you to any lat-long coordinates of your choice while doing so, where would you go? I've got a time travel story planned, and I'm curious if there's anything in particular y'all would want from it. (For those of you who've seen this already, I'm just gonna be copy-pasting it onto every post I make until I manage to upload this planned story.)
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> Character List:  
> Steph Gingrich - DM  
> Chloe Price - Haley?, Elf Fighter  
> Mikey North - Joseph Evening, Human Wizard  
> Rachel Amber - Clarissa Bluefeather, Tiefling Rogue  
> Max Caulfield - Derrick Margrave, Dwarf Cleric (Skype-In)
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Time to unleash the battlemap. I pull out a rolled up piece of a3 from the umbrella stand beside me, and unroll it onto the table, sliding it under the plastic grid-mat (AN1) and making sure it's secure on the table. Then, I pull out the figures, setting up the players in a small clump, with the dozen soldiers about 9 squares away.

I smile. "Welcome to your first fight. First thing we do is roll initiative, so we can find out which one of you is gonna die first."

They all nod, or roll their eyes, picking up and rolling their d20s, then searching their sheets for the right value. (AN2)

"20-25?" I ask, pretty pointlessly. They're level 1, unless they roll a 19 or 20, they're not going to get that high an initiative.

As expected, they all shake their heads.

"15-20?"

Rachel nods. "17."

Chloe grins. "Guess you're first, Rach. Better you than me."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "You're supposed to be the tank, Chlo. You have more hitpoints than the rest of us put together."

Chloe shrugs. "That's what it means to be a badass."

"Guess that's why this game is imaginary." Rachel retorts.

Max chuckles, and Chloe flashes the computer a betrayed look, whining "Maaax!"

Max shrugs. "Sorry Chlo, she's kinda right on this one."

They bicker back and forth for a minute or two until I cough, getting a few sheepish looks as I pull us back on track. "10-15?"

Chloe takes second place in the initiative order with a 14, Mikey next with 12. Everyone smirks when Max ends up last with an 8.

"Dude, how are you so slow?"

"You try moving in platemail. It's seriously heavy."

"Fair point."

They all suddenly look expectantly back over at me.

I grin. "Cool. The soldiers go first." (AN3)

"Oh fuck."]]

As the soldiers charge forward, their skin suddenly shimmers and turns a dark silver. Evening immediately recognises the spell they used, one from his own spellbook. Each soldier's flesh had become as hard, and as grey, as stone.

[["Stoneskin..." Mikey breathes out.

I nod. "Yeah. Those soldiers are gonna be tougher for you to damage now." I nod over at Rachel. "You're up, Rach. What do you wanna do?"

She looks down at her sheet, thinking for a second. "We've got a move, then we do something, right?"

I nod again. "Right. Well, you've got a bonus action too, but we can skip over that for now."

Her mouth crinkles as she returns my nod, then looks down at the board. The guards are maybe 45ft from the players, so the quick little tiefling could totally reach them in her turn. Derrick was kinda screwed though. Poor, short bastard.

"I need someone around to sneak attack, right?"

"Yep. Well, almost." I amend. "If you don't have the element of surprise, which you really don't here, you need someone flanking. So, if someone was in front of them, you could sneak attack them from the side, or the back."

Rachel's eyes flick over the map. "Huh. Okay then. I pull out my daggers and rush the nearest dude. I wanna hit his legs."

Everyone blinks at the rather... direct approach for the normally subtle Rachel. I grin. Guess Chloe's been rubbing off on her. "Okay then."]]

Clarissa suddenly dashes forward in a burst of movement, and takes a swipe down with her two stiletto daggers towards the man's relatively unarmored legs.

[[That's when Rachel pauses, d20 held between two long fingers. "So, how do I do this again? I know this little guy's involved, but..."

"You roll that, then add your attack bonus. (AN4) Should be somewhere in the top left of your first sheet?"

Rachel searches for a minute, then nods. "Okay, I got it. 16."

"His AC is only 15."

She grins. "Cool."]]

The knives rake along the man's legs, and he cries out in pain as blood starts to streak down his shins. Clarissa grins up at him as-[["Can I... um... disengage? That's a bonus action, right?"

I blink. Huh. The newbs do listen. I nod. "You totally can."]]-as she darts back out of his reach, ducking down as his blade, flung out in an instinctive strike, swings uselessly over her head.

As she disengages, 'Haley' appears at his other side with a huge grin across her face, almost a rictus [["What's a rictus?" - "Some kinda plant?" - "That's a cactus, dumbass."]], her eyes filled with with bloodlust. "Hey Buddy. Let's dance."

She brings her greatsword down onto the guard's neck. It tears into him, and his cries become a scream as his hand flashes up to his neck.

Then, Evening steps forward.

He surveys the area with his eyes, body barely moving. After a second, he begins to move his hands, muttering to himself under his breath. He begins to pull in light from his surroundings, making the area around him seem darker than the rest of the square. After a beat, he thrusts out his hands, and little spheres of light shoot out, impacting into two of the guards.

[[I quickly note down the damage, and move on with a "Uh, everyone roll a perception check, please. Except Haley."

Chloe frowns. "What? Why not me?"

"You're actively fighting that guard in front of you. You can look away to check shit out if you want, but he's gonna get a shot at you if you do."

She scowls, slumps back in her seat a bit. "Fine. I don't see shit."]]

The crowd, and the chanting men, are suddenly regarding your new acquaintance Evening with complete shock and terror. Apparently, they're a little... strange, around mages.

[[Mikey eyes the table for a second, planning out his movement. "I want to move forward a few feet. Maybe fifteen or so? The range for my next spell is kinda... short."

I shrug, "Cool" and move his lil' figurine three spaces forward. "That okay?"

He nods. "Cool. Derrick, your turn."]]

Derrick slams his shield against his axe, and the small buckler suddenly explodes out into a full-size aspis.

[[The players all 'Oooh'.

"What's an Aspis?" (AN5)

"Like, a round wooden shield. Right? Those Greek Hopper dudes used them."

"Hoplites."

"Bless you." The little face on the screen grins at me, so proud of herself.

Chloe immediately facepalms. "Goddamn it. Max."]]

He pulls up his guard, readies his axe, and charges forward with a roar. It's surprisingly intimidating for someone of such... small stature. [[Max sticks out her tongue, and Chloe freaking chortles. Weird-ass noise to hear coming from her.

I move Max's character double her movement speed; the one benefit of a dash action (AN6) was getting places very, very quickly. Unfortunately, for her, anyway, while she could get to the guards, she couldn't hit them on the same turn. "End of the first round, now the guards get to move again."

Everyone groans.]]

The few guards still out of range close on each of you, until you're all facing two. Except for Evening, who gets four approaching at a very cautious distance. [["Seriously? Why does the nerd get to have more fun?" Chloe growls.

I shrug. "You don't know. All you know is, that's who they're going for."

"Well, fuck. That's hella unfair."]] As they get to you, each guard takes a strike with their very basic longswords. Nothing special, move-wise, either. They clearly weren't mentally prepared to have a conflict here. Wherever here is, exactly. They just swing. A couple of them strike, managing to draw blood, but none do any significant damage to any of you.

The wounded guard stumbles back, away from the two who've just seriously fucked him up. [["Cool." Teacher-Steph time again. "This was something else I wanted you to know. Attacks of opportunity. Whenever you run past, or, like, away from someone, they get to take a shot at you." I quickly demonstrate a few examples using the battlemap.

Chloe starts to frown as I talk, but it's cleared by the time I finish, turning quickly to a grin. "So, I get to hit the dude, right?"

I nod. "Yep. Go ahead, roll for your massive sword."

Chloe winks at Rachel. "You hear that Rach? I got a massive sword." She wiggles her eyebrows lasciviously as the rest of the table groans and rolls their eyes like an irritated middle sibling.

After a pause, Rachel winks back. "It's not about size, babe. It's all about how you use it."

"Well, I use it pretty awesome." She rolls. "That's- Oh fuckityshitshitfuckshitdamn."

She lets her head fall into her hands, and Rachel frowns curiously over her shoulder at the die, before breaking out in a dazzling smile. "Uh, Steph?"

"Yeah?"

"That's a one."]]

You bring down your sword at him again, in another huge, powerful downward arc chop... a full ten seconds after he moves out of range. Your sword misses him by several inches and, with the force of your blow, ends up with the top six inches buried in solid earth.

You try pull it out, but it's definitely stuck. [["Sorry Chloe. Critical failures (AN7) suuuck. It's gonna take you a full turn to get your sword back."

Chloe swears. Loudly.]]

Clarissa manages to run forward, slash another soldier's legs, then flee again without issue.

[["Of-fucking-course she does."

"Shush, Chloe. Don't hate the player, hate the game."

"Ahem. Don't do that."

Rachel tilts her head at me with a grin. "Good point. Sorry Steph."]]

Clarissa's head suddenly explodes as she-[["Steph!"

"Sorry. Mikey. Your turn."

Mikey looks up from his character sheet. "How far are the guards from me again?"

"Uh... about 30ft? Ish."

His face breaks out in a pleased grin. "Excellent. I want to cast Fog Cloud. Second level."

"Oooh, nice." Chloe blinks. "Wait. What's Fog Cloud do?"

Rachel opens her mouth, and we can all tell there's a joke coming by the look in her eyes alone, but Chloe holds up a hand to stop her. "I can guess it makes a fucking cloud of fog, I just wanna know specifics. Like, is it at a range, is it acidic, or what?"

Rachel sits back, disappointed at her fun being taken from her.

"It's on you, right Mikey?"

He nods. "20ft in all directions out from me at level one, but I'm casting it using one of my 2nd level slots, so it goes up to 40."

"40ft? Niiice." Chloe gives Mikey a thumbs up. Didn't think she was the type, but whatever.]]

Evening eyes the approaching guards, then twists his hands again. He chants something under his breath, and suddenly he, and the four guards around him, are enveloped in a thick cloud of greyish fog.

As he does, Derrick pulls up his axe and takes a slice at his nearest guard. [["I'd like to activate my, um... Great Weaponmaster feat, please."

I frown. "Is that five from the attack roll and ten extra damage, or the other way around?"

"The first one."

"Cool." I nod, waving a hand at her. "Then roll high, Maxie."

She tosses the dice, then grins. "That's a Natural Twenty."

I blink. "Well. That's definitely a hit. Roll damage, double whatever you get on the die. Oh, and since you got a critical on the Weaponmaster feat, that's a second attack for you."]] Derrick's axe cleaves straight through his guard, and the edge buries itself in his chest. He dies gurgling, and Derrick twirls, using the momentum to keep his axe moving straight into the side of a second guardsman.

The guard growls, and wrenches the axe out of his side. He's definitely hurting, but he seems well enough to fight.

[[We go through another three rounds before the players start taking enough hits for me to amp it up a little. So, I bring in the Proclaimers.]]

One of the robed figures raises a hand, drawing a strange shape in the air, and-[["Make a wisdom saving throw."

Mikey and Max both sounds of dread, getting curious looks from Rachel and Chloe. "What?"

"Wisdom saving throws are never good," Mikey explains "it's always someone trying to knock you out or take control of your mind."

Chloe blinks, looks back to me. "They can do that?"

I shrug. "Depends on what you roll."

She scowls, picks up a die, and rolls. "14."

"Cool. Everyone else?"

Nobody rolls higher than a fifteen.

"Okay then."]]

You feel your muscles get lighter, then tighter, and you hit the floor and your vision goes black.

\--

"Welp." 'Hayley' says, leaning back against the cell wall. "That went well."

Derrick chuckles. "Maybe takin' on a whole cadre of guards straight after wakin' up in a strange place wasn't our best idea."

[["So, we're in a cell, right?" Rachel tilts her head curiously at me.

I nod. "Uh, yeah. You just turned up in the middle of the town square and killed, like, four town guards. Of course they're going to put you in a cell."

Chloe grins. "Yeah, we did do that, didn't we? Cool. What's the place like?"

Rachel frowns. "It's a cell, Chloe. It's pretty obvious how it's going to be."

Chloe waves a hand. "Yeah, not like that. I mean, we gotta get out of here, right? So, I wanna try find a way out."

Rachel shrugs. "Fair enough. So, Stephie, any helpful holes in the wall we can climb out of?"

"Don't call me Stephie." Ugh. That's so gross. "And nope, afraid not. It's a pretty small room, with not much in that's obvious to you aside from a pair of bunk-beds. Roll an investigation check, see if you can find anything."]]

The room was very, very barren. Other than the beds, and the door, there was no other furniture. There weren't even windows. The walls were incredibly solid and well made, and the door was made of some solid wood. A standard cell with no way out. However, in the corner, next to the door, is a box. It's made of some kind of metal, iron, maybe copper, with one side made of a dulled kind of glassy metal. You're not sure what it is exactly but, judging by the rust that covers it, it's definitely old.

[["Can I go over and tap it?"

"The box? What part?"

"The glass. Like douchebags do at the zoo."]]

'Hayley' reaches out and taps on the glass, and... nothing happens. 'Hayley' signs in irritation, turning back to look at the rest of you. "Well. Shit. What the fuck do we do now?"

Before any of you can respond, there's a loud bingity-beep chiming sound that echoes throughout the room. It's coming from the box. You look back at it, and there's a blinking eye on the glass, and an airy voice blows through the room. "Hello, prisoner. How may I help you today?"

[[Chloe blinks. "Huh. Friendly dude."]]

Clarissa steps forward, making eye contact with the eye, as 'Hayley' helpfully gets out of the way. "Who are you?"

The eye blinks. "I am Milton. My instructions require me to interact with all inhabitants of this town, and answer questions they may have. Unfortunately, I find no record of you in this town. If you plan to stay, or wish for more information, you need to make an entry in the town manifest."

'Hayley' snorts dismissively. "Well, then you can just buzz off, dude. We don't plan on staying."

"Hayley! A minute?" Clarissa drags the group together, and keeps her voice low. "Let's think about this."

"What's there to think about? We can't fucking stay here. Everyone wants to kill us!" 'Hayley' growls.

"Yes. Everyone except the weird spirit box thing. Why shouldn't we sign up, let this Milton guy answer our questions?"

There's a pause as you all think it over then, almost as one, you turn back to the box. "Hey, Milton?" Clarissa calls out.

"Yes, prisoner?" Milton's airy voice drifts through the air again.

"You can understand us? The people outside couldn't."

"Understand is a strong way to describe it, but yes."

Clarissa simply nods at that information. "How do we sign up?"

"You simply answer several questions, to ensure your sentience. Then, after a short delay to allow me to examine your answers, you will be entered into the town manifest. Unless you fail, in which case you will be hunted down."

"Our sentience?"

"Indeed. We have had issues with non-sentient incursions from the planar realms, so this process was introduced in order to ensure all those signing up were sentient beings and therefore denizens of the three Mollies."

"The three whats?"

"I'm afraid I can't discuss that with you at the moment. Your name must be entered into the manifest for more information."

Clarissa nods, slowly, considering. "Okay, and if we do, will other people be able to see that we're on the list?"

"All citizen entries are confidential, and may only be accessed by the town Reeve."

[["Reeve?"

"The administrator. Like the mayor, I guess."

"Cool."]]

"And if we do that, you'll answer all our questions?"

"Any you might have, Prisoner."

"And stop calling us prisoner?"

"If you are entered into the town manifest, you may be called whatever you wish."

Clarissa nods. "Excellent. Seems like a good deal, you can sign me up."

"Do any of your companions wish to sign up also?"

Clarissa turrns to the others. "How about it, guys? It seems like a good trade. Information for a few answers and a tiny possibility of some Reeve guy finding us."

After a few seconds to mull, the rest of you agree, and Milton directs you to step forward, one by one. Each time one of you steps closer to the box, a swirling screen of air starts to... swirl around you and the others are unable to hear your answers. [["Alright, so. Gonna have to ask the rest of you to clear the table. I want to go through the questions with each of you on your own."

Chloe groans. "Ugh. We gotta stand up?"

Rachel smirks. "Don't worry Chloe, you'll be back sitting down here before you know it." She turns to me. "Who first?"

"You, actually."

She grins, leaning forward in her seat as Mikey and Chloe head to the other side of the room, and Max mutes our audio. "Excellent."]]

As you step forward, you feel a light pressure on your skin, and Milton's voice becomes slightly more solid as he asks "Are you ready?"

Clarissa nods. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Excellent. The test begins now. What is 2+2?"

Clarissa snorts. "Starting simple, huh?"

Milton doesn't respond. [["Roll an intelligence check."

She rolls. "16."

"Cool. You can answer however you like."]]

"Uh. Four?"

"Response accepted. Prepare for the next question." [[Rachel blinks. "Huh, okay. That was easy."

I smile. "Okay, continue."]]

"What is your subjective reaction to this image?" A picture appears in your mind. It's two upside-down Vs over a flat line, one to either side of it. Nothing complex, just a simple line sketch.

"Uh. It's a face..."

There's a brief pause. "Response accepted. Prepare for the next question." [["Roll a perception check."

"Eight?"

I smile. "Okay, continue."

Rachel glares.]]

"What best defines a person?"

"Um. Someone with a personality, who thinks introspectively about themselves and things they do, they sort of stuff."

"So, a person is a being that possesses consciousness, then?"

Clarissa nods. "Yeah, exactly."

"Response accepted. Prepare for the next question." There's a brief pause, and the eye flickers before the next question is asked. "You're walking through the desert and come across a thirsty traveller. His eyes bulge from slow dehydration. You have water, but you're not sure how far it is to the next oasis. What do you do?"

"Does he have any cool stuff I could steal?"

"No. He is clothed, but poorly, and carries no visible items."

"Does he have any useful survival experience?"

"No. He is a chandler. Unless you could provide him with sufficient wax and candle-making equipment, he would be of no use whatsoever."

"I keep walking. If he tries anything, I stab him in the side."

There's another brief pause. "Response accepted." Milton pauses, and the eye flickers yet again. "Next are a series of statements. Please indicate your agreement and/or thoughts on each one."

Milton begins with "A person is under no authority other than that to which they consent."

"Agreed. Kind of hard to be under an authority you openly rebel against." [[A dark look passes over Rachel's face, but it's gone in a flash. I don't ask. Chloe and Rach have some shady crap floating about in their heads, and frankly I'd sleep better not knowing.]]

"Response accepted. Prepare for the next question." There's a short whirr and Milton's voice breathes out "The quality of life of persons ought to be maximised."

Clarissa nods. "Yeah, I'd say that's true."

[[I go through the rest of the statements on my list, firing out beauties like:

"Value is discovered."

"Persons deserve the talents they were born into."

"The liberty of persons ought to be maximised."

"Value is created."

"Only sentient beings are able to be people."

I record each of Rachel's answers, then move on to each one of the others. Max goes for nicer, selfless answers that I'm not sure are in character or just her as a person. Chloe talks pretty highly of her. Speaking of the bluenette, she stays ambiguously in character with her answers as well, keeping things blunter and more aggressive. Her answer to the dehydrated desert guy scenario is sooner forgotten than talked about. Seriously. Wow, Chloe. Wow. Mikey, of course, keeps things polite, distant, and vaguely condescending. He really knows his character strengths.

I end each 'interview' the same way.]]

"Thank you. Your answers are being studied, and your entry will be created soon." The eye flickers out.

[[I wave at them to let them know I'm done and it's their turn to do things. They all immediately turn to each other, and Chloe says what I'm sure they're all thinking. "Okay. What the fuck do we do now?"]]

Around ten minutes of fruitless searching later, the door swings open with a creak to reveal a tall, well-maintained blond man. He's well dressed, his thigh length coat and formal waistcoat pairing well with his finely tailored shirt, and his hair is lovingly maintained, both facial and head hair. He flashes you all a grin, and gives out a flamboyant bow. "Hello there. Want to get out of here and go somewhere a mite more pleasant?"

[[Chloe and Rachel immediately turn to each other and woop loudly. "Prison break!"]]

"We've only been here five minutes! Barely any time to appreciate the ambience..."

The man chuckles. "And a fine ambience it is. If you'd like me to come back, I'm sure I can book you in for a second escape attempt sometime next week."

There's a loud scream of agony that echoes down the corridor. The man's expression doesn't change.

"Eh. I think we've appreciated it enough. Get us out of here, man."

He grins. "Excellent. Come along then." Without another pause, he turns and starts heading off down the corridor.

You all blink for a second, then follow him out, Clarissa and Evening backing up your new friend, and Derrick and 'Hayley' guarding the rear. "Do you have our weapons?"

He nods. "Oh, of course. Well, no." He amends. "Not in my immediate possession. They're being stored in a depository several hundred feet..." He thinks for a second, then points slightly to the right of the direction you're heading in. "That way."

You all nod in acknowledgement. Except 'Hayley', who growls in irritation.

He clicks his fingers in sudden realisation. "Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Pleasantries. I'm Ghent, and you all are?" He looks expectantly at you all as he leads you through corridors.

[["Do you introduce yourselves?"

Mikey chips in. "Sure. We're not assholes."

Chloe hmms. "Aren't we, Mikey-boy? Aren't we? We did just kill some dudes, and interrupt those weird dress guys in the middle of their rambly preachy town chat or whatever-"

"Chlo, those are robes, and we're in a whole new world-"

"A whole new woooorld!" Chloe and Rachel both immediately burst into song.

We all just stare at them for a second. Then two. Then five. Huh.]]

You all introduce yourselves politely. Except for 'Hayley', who is curt and kind of pissy.

[[I grin as Chloe nods proudly. "Hell yeah."]]

He takes you down another corridor, this one lined with more cell doors. The people inside the cells scream and rattle the doors as you pass. You walk along it for maybe 50ft before Ghent stops at a wooden door, and kneels in front of it. As you watch, he pulls out two little metal sticks that Clarissa immediately recognises as a pick and tortion wrench. Lockpickers tools.

He fiddles with the door for a second, then opens it up with another grin. "Your things should be inside. Do try to hurry, I believe they'll have noticed your escape soon."

You scurry inside to find a moderately sized room, filled with racks of weaponry, armour, and other items that you guess were taken from other prisoners.

[[Chloe's face immediately lights up. "Oooh. Can we search this shit?"

I shrug. "Sure. Roll an investigation check."

Chloe frowns down at her sheet again. "Uh... shit. I'm bad at that. Can't I do perception instead?" When I shake my head, she shrugs and just rolls. "Fuck it. 16?"

I nod. "Not bad. You poke around, and you find your stuff pretty quickly. You also find a couple of interesting looking weapons. One of them has a few squiggly shapes carved into the handle that you quite like."

Chloe grins. "Sweet!"

After she writes her stuff down, I look over at the others. "I'm guessing the rest of you want to search too?" When they all nod, I wave a hand. "Roll investigation checks."

Mikey speaks up first. "19. And I want to look for potions."

I nod to Mikey. "Cool. You find a few interesting looking vials that, according to your training, look pretty much like potions, but you'd have to examine them more closely to find out exactlywhat kind of potions they are. Rachel?"

She shrugs. "What should I look for? I mean, I have all my thief things, right?"

I shake my head. "Not right now. They're somewhere in this room. It's just in case you want to try loot anything else while you're there."

She ponders it for a second, then shakes her head. "I'll just find my stuff." She rolls. "19."

"Cool. You find all your things pretty easily. Last but not least, Max. What do you want to do?"

Max shrugs. "I'd like to look for my stuff first, then just sort of see if I can find anything that might be interesting, I guess?"

I nod. "Right. Roll"

"Uh... 23? I think?"

Damn. "You find your stuff in seconds, immediately recognising the familiar Helmite symbol. You also find a whole bunch of interesting stuff alongside that, including..." I slide over a few pieces of paper to her. "some files, a crystalline cube that looks intentionally carved that way, and a few scattered gems."

Max blinks, and gives a "Woah." worthy of Keanu Reeves himself (Blessed be his name).]]

As you're all looking over your things, Ghent pokes his head back in. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm afraid we have to go. Now."

Begrudgingly, you leave the confiscated goods room and get back to following Ghent's directions. He leads you down yet more non-descript corridors lined with cells and screaming prisoners for about a half hour more, until he finally stops outside another wooden door. "Alright. Here we are. Now, I should warn you, this next part will rely on your ability to be quiet, and respectful. Do we think we're up for that?"

He smirks over at 'Hayley'. She bristles, preparing to bite back, but Clarissa quickly spots the dispute and nudges her to be quiet. [["Do you take it?"

Chloe looks from me, to Rachel, to me again, then slumps. "Yeah, fine..."]]

When none of you make a sound, the beaming grin flicks back on, and he nods. "Excellent. Come along." He pushes open the door and steps through it. You follow him out into a large walled courtyard filled with guards in the same uniforms and armour you saw before, although these look a little newer than those guards did. You quickly notice that the guards are formed into ranks, and being shouted at by some of the older guards. Ghent has lead you into some kind of training ground, you think.

[["If you want to do what Ghent says, roll a stealth check, to see how subtle you can be. If you don't, roll a dexterity check. Don't let us know which you do."

All of them pass, except for 'Hayley'. Pass pretty well too, comparatively so... Should I give this to them? I mull it over for a few seconds, then shrug. Group-wise, they could probably cover enough for her with those rolls so...]]

"'Hayley' knocks over a bucket along the way, but the rest of you keep quiet enough and the ground is loud enough that it doesn't draw anything more than passing attention.

As you cross the courtyard, you notice a single guard standing below a gatehouse. He's relaxed, being on friendly ground, but watches you all as you walk up to his gate. Ghent steps forward, saying something in a low voice that you don't quite catch. The guardsman raises an eyebrow and squares up to Ghent, his hand dropping down to his sword as he questions "Mercenaries?"

Ghent waves a hand back towards you all, and you do your best to look quiet and respectful. The guardsman nods, evidently satisfied with your display, then turns back to Ghent and nods "Very well. Do you have any further... points to raise here?"

Ghent sighs. He mutters to the guard again, and you swear you see a small pouch change hands, but the motion was so quick and smoothly done that you're not sure.

Pleasantries now fully observed, the guard calls up to the top of the gatehouse and, moments later, a loud grinding sound fills the entire courtyard as the portcullisses are raised and the gate between them opens.

Ghent nods politely to the guard, then quickly leads you out and into a completely empty town street. The fortress looms impressively behind you, motivating you to move just that little bit faster as you follow Ghent out into the town.

\--

[["Okay. Fuck this." Chloe says suddenly.]] 'Hayley' steps up to catch up to Ghent, matching his pace as she ask-demands. "Why are you helping us? I mean, won't those robed guys be pissed off with you for this?"

He grins again. "Oh, yes, very pissed indeed, and homicidally so. However, I believe you and I share an... allegiance, shall we say?"

Clarissa nods. "Oh, right. Disembodied voice, loud and booming, right?" [["Fuckin' Speaker..." Chloe grumbles.]]

Ghent beams. "Indeed. Although, I've never heard His voice, myself."

"You haven't?"

He shakes his head. "Never. My family was sworn to His service generations ago. Not one of us has heard His voice since the Interdict was brought down."

"The what?" Evening tilts his head, staring down at the cheerful blond man.

"The Interdict. When the new Gods came, they cast out the old, banning His worship. But we don't listen to those heretics." He laughs, loud and pleased. "We continued our worships in secret, hiding our communes wherever we could. That's where I'm taking you now, before you ask. You'll be safe with us, for a while at least."

Evening twirls to dodge around a passing townsman, glaring at the tanned man as he just keeps going down the street past you all without a second glance. "Ugh. Apparently these new Gods don't teach manners."

Ghent chuckles again. "It isn't a valued attribute in their following, no. They prefer rather more... malleable followers." He waves offhand at a group of the locals wandering past you. [["If you want to find out what the hell he's talking about, roll an insight check."

Chloe grins when she rolls high. "Fuckin' A. I got hella lucky." When Rachel opens her mouth to make the really obvious joke, Chloe just jabs a finger at her. "Don't say fucking anything, Rach."

Rachel just smirks.]]  
'  
The more perceptive of you note the slumped shoulders, the slight glazed look, and the general malaise on every single villager there.

[["The what?"

"Malaise. It's like..." Uh... "it's like a sense of vague unease that you're not sure where it came from."

"Cool."]]

"What's wrong with them?" Clarissa says, looking back at the grinning blonde man and keeping her voice low as the villagers wander by.

He shrugs. "We're not certain. It's gotten worse the longer this occupation has gone on."

"Occupation?"

He hmms. "The Inderdict didn't come from nowhere, you understand. The religion is something of an... unwanted import from Charity."

"Charity?" 'Hayley' asks, curiously.

He eyes you in rapidly clearing confusion before shaking his head with another wide smile."You really aren't from around here, are you?"

"We're afraid not, sorry."

He claps his hands, startling a few nearby villagers, then says with very evident delight. "No, no, there's no need to apologise. 'Tis most excellent news. You were completely unfamiliar to the Proclaimers. I imagine those foppish [["Really? This dude wants to call someone else a fop?"

We all stare at Chloe for a second until she shrugs sheepishly. "What? I know shit, I read." We stare more. "Sometimes."]]-those foppish sycophants are panicking wildly now they know you've escaped, and they still don't know who you are!" He claps his hands, and somehow his smile grows more. It's slightly disturbing, actually. "Most excellent news indeed! Now, come along, we're almost there!" He surges forward with another energetic burst of motion, toward a side alleyway.

The more perceptive of you notice that he never answered your question. [["We'll leave it. I'm getting bored of walking." Rachel says, with the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

I shrug. "Like he said. You're almost there."]]

He guides you through to another crowded main thoroughfare, and mingles effortlessly with the downtrodden crowd. He points out landmarks as he goes, what few there are in this... hick town anyway, remaining cheerful and upbeat the entire time.

[["Roll a perception check."

They list off their results and, while Chloe's was kinda low, they hit high enough as a group to get a hit.]]

You see him heading toward an alleyway. It's in full view of the street, with no obvious obstructions or bad smell, yet there's an open space between it and the passing people. Anyone who starts to get too close just suddenly veers away without really noticing, like there's an invisible field surrounding the alleyway. Ghent strides through it without stopping, and disappears into the alley. [["Do you follow him?"

They all look at each other, and shrug. "Sure. In for a penny, right?"]]

You follow him into the alley, and everything goes dark.

[[Chloe groans. "Seriously? Again?"

I shrug. "Yep. Sorry."]]

\--

When you wake up, all of you have a pounding headache. It's dark, wherever you are, and you're lying down again. It's far more comfortable than last time though, as you're lying on some pretty comfortable beds. [[I wave a hand to them in another 'I'm done, you're up, now what do you do' gesture.]]

Each of you, when you try to sit up, find that your headache gets way worse, sending flashes of pain through your body. Any of you that call out are quickly attended to, as a shimmering cloud of psychedelically coloured gases and rocks drifts into the room and an airy voice, like the one that spoke to you in the cell, says "Please be still while your wound is attended to."

It drifts down and envelops you; the cloud spreads to cover your entire body. Your head begins to clear, and the pain fades. It drifts back from you and reforms back into the vaguely spherical cloud shape it had when it entered. The airy voice speaks again "Please wait." and it drifts out of the room. [["Do you wait?"

Everyone but Chloe nods almost immediately. Chloe thinks for a beat.

Then another.

Then another.

...

"Fine."]]

A minute or two later, each of you are visited by a flesh and blood person. They aren't Ghent, but they're all similarly... enthusiastic. They greet you, apologise for the painful arrive, and inform you that they're there to take you to their boss, who they promise will explain everything. They react to all of you with an almost reverential tone and stance, like you're visiting royalty. But there's a dash of curiosity there as well that blurs the reverence a little.

So, [[Shit, where was I? Oh yeah, corridor.]] of you are escorted from the room along stone hallways. They're completely bare, no carpeting, no tapestries, no nothing. The only decorations of any kind are carved strings of numbers at different points along the wall. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to them. All the numbers are in different orders, and there are different numbers of numbers in each string.

You're all escorted through a big set of double doors and into a room. When you walk in, you see the others coming in through other sets of doors around the room. It's a big room, looks kind of like an old church-hall. It's long, and there's a high ceiling that towers above you, capped by a gorgeous piece of ceiling art depicting things you don't recognise but that involve a shitload of feathers.

Your escorts instruct you to sit down in the pews that line the walls between the six sets of double doors in both opposite walls, the line broken regularly by tall, greek-style pillars that extend from the floor to the seam of the roof. You take a look around, and...- [["Roll a perception check, everyone."

They roll, and roll pretty high.]]-and notice lots of scuff-marks on the floor. The kind that happen when you pull things that were lying on a floor together in a hurry. Things like bedrolls, and camping supplies, and campfires. There's even the occasional black soot stains dotted around to confirm. This room was lived in, and not that long ago.

After a short wait, one of the corner doors opens and a familiar face steps out, Ghent, accompanied by two strangers. One is tall with blue-ish skin, and the other is tall, lithe, and looks sort of like a humanoid gazelle. You're not sure how, but you recognise the gazelle-person is female. The blue-skin person you aren't sure about. Their figure is ambiguous, and their hair, although long, is braided in a style you've seen both genders wear.

They approach you immediately upon entering the room. The gazelle-woman takes the lead, and the others stay at a respectful distance behind her. She stops a few paces away from you, but her two escorts continue past her until they're a few steps in front of her. Ghent immediately bows, very, very deeply, and gestures to the gazelle-woman. "Hello, friends. This is Arch-Speaker Shal'ira, High Priestess of His, Blessed Messenger, Seeker of the Words, Climber of Babel, and a Lady of the Inner Mollie. And," He gestures to the blue-skinned person. "this is Child Vord of the Inner Vocality." You notice the sweeping feather tattoo on the person's throat that disappears under their clothing.

Shal'ira bows, tilting her upper body at a barely noticeable angle, and inclines her head graciously. "Hello. Ghent informs me you came out of the Minaret." She chuckles. "And during the Proclaimers' Recitation, too. What were you doing in there?"

[[Rachel snorts. "Straight to business then? Alright..."]]

Clarissa steps forward, respectfully bowing. "We woke up there, Speaker."

"He also tells me that you aren't familiar with the Three Mollies?"

Clarissa shakes her head. "Nope. No idea where we are."

"Fascinating. Well, let's see what we can do to change that, shall we?" She waves a hand. Suddenly-[[I grab another map from the umbrella stand and roll it out onto the table. This one was larger than the battlemap, and showed a larger image instead of focused in on terrain.

The world map.

Max whistled and leaned in closer to the screen when she saw it. "Wow, Steph, that's really good! Did you draw it?"

"Yep. Mine, all mine." I smirk. Time to exposition this sitch.]]-"an image appears in the air in front of you, about where she's pointing her hand. It shows three interlinked rings, each one inside the next, but at different angles, and all slowly rotating. Much to your surprise, it seems these rings are covered in landscapes and sea, and you peer in closer to see markers showing cities and citadels, towns and villages, bridges and highways, and all manner of built structures.

"These are the three Mollies: Charity," She taps the innermost ringworld and it takes on a faint glow, "Hope," then the next, "and Faith." and finally the outermost ring. [["Dude, why are these things called Mollies?"

"It's a reference." I grin, teasingly. "I'm sure you'll work it out." (AN7)

Chloe grumbles something, and I faintly catch a "nobody tells me fucking anything..." that almost makes me giggle. Aww.]]

Derrick nods. "Ghent mentioned somethin' about an occupation from Charity. I'm guessin' y'all are in one of the other two?"

Shal'ira nods. "We are the Faithful."

There's a beat of silence before Clarissa speaks up again. "Well, thank you for the help. You got us out of a pretty bad situation back there. I'm guessing you want something in return?"

Vord laughs, and it's incredibly uncomfortable to listen to, alternating between a deep bass and an almost shrill soprano. "You're no fools, I see."

Clarissa shrugs nonchalantly. "Nothing wrong with wanting to know the terms of our prospective deal. Generally more polite to let people know the terms beforehand, but I suppose the prison break was pressing enough that we can forgive you that lapse of etiquette."

Even Shal'ira smiles at that. "It is fair that you ask, though unwarranted. We impose no restrictions upon you, you are free to go whenever you wish. However,"[["Of course..." Rachel rolls her eyes. "There's always a but."

Chloe blinks. "But there wasn't. She said however."

Rachel raises one eyebrow at Chloe, who starts to get... kinda flustered, actually. She blinks at Rachel, then looks back to me with an almost desperate "She did say however, right? I didn't, like, imagine that or something?"]]

"But," Shal'ira continues, [["Damnit..." Chloe's head thunks on the table.]]

"We wish to extend to you an offer of hospitality, in return for your assistance with our cause. We wish to liberate our lands from Charity. Our town may be small, and far from the Crossing, but we will bear these horrors no longer."

Clarissa nods, then holds up a hand. "Can we have a minute?"

Shal'ira returns her nod. "Certainly. Take your time. We have no wish to rush you."

Clarissa collects you all together, opening the debate with a simple "Thoughts?"

"We don't know enough about the area to go our own separate ways. We'll end up thrown back in that cell if we aren't careful." Evening remarks "I think we should take the deal until it becomes nonviable."

Derrick just shrugs. "Sounds good to me."

You all turn to 'Hayley'. "What's your opinion, Hayls?"

'Hayley' just shrugs. "So long as I get to kill some shit, I don't care."

Clarissa smirks. "A glowing endorsement." She turns back to the three others in the room, all of whom are blatantly not eavesdropping, and thrusts out a hand. "We're in agreement. Sign us up for your little rebellion."

Shal'ira smiles and extends a long, dainty hand, clasping Clarissa's with a surprisingly strong grip and shaking it only once before letting go. "Welcome to the resistance."

\--

AN1 - It's pretty common in D&D to keep most stuff general and only pull out maps when you're fighting, especially in larger groups. Believe me, it's hella hard to keep track of 5+ players and a squad of monsters, so having a good map is pretty vital. It also lets you know how far people can travel in each turn. Different races have different move speeds, depending on how long their legs are, or how many legs they have (Damn centaurs), so it's important to keep track. Each square on the grid corresponds to 5ft. It changes when the movement isn't solely horizontal, or if there's harder terrain on the map (eg. Crags, Marshland, and/or Lava), but that's the general idea.

AN2 - Would this be something you guys'd be interested in? Either a copy or a summary of their character sheets, I mean? I can work up a quick runthrough of some of the more important stats, what they mean and how you get them and such too.

AN3 - Boop. 

AN4 - Your attack bonus is how good you are at hitting shit, basically. You get one for melee, one for ranged, and one for spells. Your die roll reflects the random chance of a fight, and then your attack bonus is your training and abilities.

AN5 - This is one of those more homebrew than RAW (rules as written) things. In my games, I'm happy to give out cosmetic magical items like this at character generation, but only if you can justify it to my satisfaction or I see something interesting I can do with it. For example, there's a thing in D&D with weapons that require certain actions to be done, or criteria to be met, before they'll activate their real powers. Think the movie thing where the hero confronts their greatest fears, or their relevant big bad monster thing, and then their sword suddenly bursts into flame or something. It's fun to see that moment on people's faces when they realise the pretty doohickey they've been carrying around this whole time is actually a pretty freakin' rad tool.

AN6 - The player's manual has a full list of the types of actions you can take.

AN7 - I'm not actually going to tell you what the reference is to here. If any of you can work it out by the next update (plenty of time), you shall be awarded the most virtual of cookies!


End file.
